Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) set the record straight Thursday after former NFL quarterback and national anthem protester Colin Kaepernick posted an out of context Frederick Douglass quote on Twitter for Independence Day.
On Independence Day, Kaepernick posted a video accompanying the following Frederick Douglass quote:
What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence? This Fourth of July is yours, not mine…There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of these United States at this very hour.
However, context is key. As Cruz pointed out, Douglass hated and opposed slavery, but that did not mean he hated and opposed America. Quite the contrary:
Cruz encouraged people to read the entire speech:
As Breitbart News reported, Douglass even referred to the Constitution as a “glorious liberty document.”
“Read its preamble, consider its purposes. Is slavery among them? Is it at the gateway? or is it in the temple? it is neither,” he said.
He continued:
While I do not intend to argue this question on the present occasion, let me ask, if it be not somewhat singular that, if the Constitution were intended to be, by its framers and adopters, a slave-holding instrument, why neither slavery, slaveholding, nor slave can anywhere be found in it.
It should be abundantly clear to the reader that Douglass opposed slavery but had hope that America – of all countries – could right the wrong. His hope was not misplaced.
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